B-Movie Breakdown: Bride of Re-Animator

Hello, dear readers, this week I bring you the sequel to the well-known cult classic, Re-Animator that takes the story of Dr. Herbert West (Jeffrey Combs) in an even more twisted, wonderful direction. If love body horror, amazing effects, and Combs in the role he was born to play, then, Bride of Re-Animator is the movie you need to see.

The Breakdown

Plot:

Bride of Re-Animator starts a little while after the previous movie ended. Having lost his love, Dr. Dan Cain (Bruce Abbott) goes with Dr. West to South America in search of the missing ingredient to the re-animator serum that will not only give the creatures they create life, but consciousness as well. Having found that what they were looking for is in a lizard, they return to their previous jobs in America.

That seemed strange to me as I didn’t understand why you would want to go back to the place where you’re already suspected of some kind of foul play, but I suppose the movie already had these sets ready to go.

Anyways, they continue their experiments and perfect the serum. Dan, as usual, begins to have issues with what they’re doing. In order to keep him on board, Dr. West promises to build him the “perfect” woman, starting with the heart of his previous girlfriend. Who says Dr. West isn’t a sentimental kind of guy? Together they begin collecting pieces from corpses in the morgue of the hospital they work at.

Everything is all honky-dorey until a friend from South America visits, Francesca Danelli (Fabiana Udenio), and Dan begins to fall in love with her. Dr. West insists on finishing their creation and eventually they do. However, Dan and Dr. West aren’t the only returning cast from the first incident. Dr. Carl Hill (David Gale) returns…well, at least his head does. Another doctor has found some of the original reanimation serum and decides to inject his head with it, because science and stuff. Hill comes back and uses his link with the other remaining creatures from the first incident to plot his revenge.

The movie comes to a head the night that Dr. West and Dan bring their creation to life. Just as she takes her first breath, Hill attacks Dr. West with his newly sewn on bat wings as his mode of transport. It’s pretty fantastic to see a severed head flying around a house with two big old bat wings on either side, I must say.

Francesca also shows up and snaps Dan out of his obsession with the creature he wants to be his dead girlfriend. He rejects the creature and, as result of his harshness, she rejects herself, literally. All of her pieced together parts pull themselves away and leave a tattered corpse behind. The attacking Hill and other monsters drive Dan, Francesca, and Dr. West in to the basement where their only escape is an opening that leads to a crypt within a neighboring cemetery.

It’s when they enter here we find out what Dr. West has been up to in his free time—creating monstrosities. The new serum has allowed him to piece together strange creatures, such as a head that sits on five legs and an eyeball that uses fingers for feet. The crypt caves in on them as the three battle against Hill and his monsters, allowing for only Dan and Francesca to pull themselves from the dirt afterwards.

Acting:

For the acting, I only really have one thing to say: Jeffrey BORN TO BE WEST Combs. There’s a reason the first movie is a cult classic and it’s due to Combs being able to play West perfectly. He has an air of genius and madness that’s soaked in ego, which creates a person you have no doubt would do the kinds of things he does without question. He has no remorse and is completely utilitarian, yet there’s a touch of something quirky to him that we really get to see when his creations are revealed in the final act. He’s curious and playful with what he makes, granted their abominations, it’s kind of cute to him light up when something goes right. Everyone else does their role well, but Combs sells this movie just as much as he did the first one.

Visuals:

If you love body horror and spectacular practical FX, this movie has some of the best to offer. The creations in the crypt are all unique and wonderfully grotesque. Each has makeup and prosthetics that give on hint of their fallacy. The part in particular that blew me away was when the woman they create tears herself apart. Each pieces rips itself away from one another and it’s done to a background of lightning, thunder, and creepy lab props. It looks amazing and is one of my favorite death scenes I’ve ever had the pleasure to watch. If anything, check out the movie to see that scene. It’s worth it.

What Say I:

I am in love with the, Re-Animator series. The movies are always creepy and weird, but with a touch of humor. Bride of Re-Animator, is a fun sequel that delves deeper in to what Dr. West can do with his serum and it’s everything I wanted to see from that exploration. Definitely check it out and I would highly recommend doing it marathon-style. Can’t go wrong with a spooky movie marathon when the star is Jeffrey Combs.